Amelia Island, 2010

Here are pictures from our beach trip which was so great. We relaxed, did not use our cell phones much at all, hardly used the laptop, played at the beach and pool, ate lots, enjoyed time with Derek's whole family(mom, dad, sister, cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents)and enjoyed time with just us. It.was.exactly.what.we.needed.
It was our first time flying with Micah and Parker has flown several times before. He loves to fly. Micah did pretty good. Better then I thought he would do. Although we LOVED the beach and when we landed Parker said "Are we going to the beach? I want to go to Florida!" He had know idea we were in Texas. ha ha. I am glad we are home and ready to move on to the Fall. I am hoping the Fall here is cooler then normal and it gets here faster. We will see. But...life is good. Of course Derek came home to such a busy week at work. He worked from 7am-2am one day. And it is almost 9pm right now and guess what? He is still working. :) Just means the business is doing good. So...even though it is hard to deal with some of the time...we are blessed. Hope you enjoy the pictures.

Derek and I on the back porch of our condo. We were going on a date that night. Ummm...to Zaxbys. Ha! We don't have a Zaxbys here and we love it. It was a good cheap date. We talked a lot. I loved it! I love spending time with this guy! He is the best!

Micah playing in the sand about to take pictures. He looks like he is holding a cigarette. He is NOT.

After pictures Parker getting in the ocean fully clothed. Oh well...

Derek's Aunts, Uncles, Mama Rose, Papa, Dad, and Mom.

This picture is so sweet.

Derek and Parker. A little dark. But good picture.

LOVE this picture! They are so handsome!

Parker in his new Monster PJs.

Micah giving me some kisses. He is not stingy with his kisses at all.




This is how far the shore went out. I loved it because the beach was flat and when the tide came in it was shallow and not rough at all. It was a great beach for toddlers.

Organizing Bug

FYI: I just read through what I typed and there are lots of errors. I do not feel like going back and fixing them. So you can laugh at them and move on. :) Also...I go on Tuesday to find out for sure that this baby is a girl. The first go around they told me they were 95% sure it was a girl. Same thing they told me with Micah about being a boy. But, I sure am ready to know they are as sure as they can be that she is a girl. :)

I knew that last week was the beginning of the end for some things in The Mills household. First, it was the last week of eating bad for us. Second, it was the last week for me to hold off all the places in my house that needed to be organized. Third, it was our vacation...which for me meant the beginning of vacation which was great...however when it ended it felt like the end of the summer. Let me explain these:

Since being preggo Derek and I have eaten SO unhealthy for us. I haven't felt good. Even last week during vacation I was sick twice. But we decided before we left that after vacation we were going to start eating healthy again. Derek wants to lose weight(I think he looks GREAT! However...he really wants to lose a few pounds.). I simply want to eat better for me. I don't intend on losing weight, however...that might happen since I am it is like night and day how different I am eating. Anyways, we switched out E-mealz(Dave Ramsey meal plan) to the weight watchers point meal plan. And have been doing good for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. I have had some ice cream at night which I justify by eating so well for me during th day. I hope this last for me. It is hard not to think "I am pregnant! Who cares?" But...really...it cannot be good eating fast food a gazillion times a week. Right?
Next...organization. This is what I titled this post because the organizing bug has come over me. For some reason right before we left for vacation I had this desire for it to be Fall. Which for me, Fall comes with structure...wonderful smells, clean house...great weather. I also have thought how even though this baby girl will not be entering this world for quite some time there are things that need to get done at me house. So, I started on Monday. First, I went through every toy we own inside our house and Parker and I filled 2 trash bags full of toys to give to Goodwill. This ended up being a teachable moment for me with Parker on giving. And it felt great. For a split second I thought about selling the toys. But I am SO glad I didn't! We were able to put everything in the bags and take it straight to Goodwill that afternoon. As I went through all of the toys I organized them too. We are going to sell the coffee table we have in the play room to make space in there. This coffee table opened up and it had great storage room where I stored lots of toys. Now...there is nothing it in! Woo Hoo!
I also cleaned out my refrigerator and freezer completely. Tonight, a organizing task that has haunted me for a few months now I completed! Yay! I have the boys clothes in bins with the sizes on the front of the bins. They were all in Micah's closet. The bins were getting out of control. I was piling up clothes on top that people had given me, along with things both boys had grown out of on top of some things I bought for Ann Marie. It was bad. Well, to me it was bad. My husband had to work late tonight so I pulled EVERY bin out of Micah's closet and then ones out of Parker's closet. Would you like to know how many there were? 10 PLUS 2 bags full of clothes and piles of clothes on the floor. One reason why I was so inspired to do this is because our good friends are about to have a baby boy in 5 weeks. I have SO many clothes because of my sister and sister in law have given me all of their's and my own kids clothes. I knew I had clothes to spare. I went through them all and filled up two bags full of clothes, shoes, etc for baby Noah. Then, I reorganized all of the sizes and hopefully have everything looking good now. Anyways, I still have quite a few more projects. But to have gotten this much done in 3 days for me is really good! I am proud!
By the way, I posted some pictures below from our wonderful vacation at Amelia Island. I have more and maybe one day I will post them. Ha! Also...I love my friends blogs who are so cute...simple...short...and to the point. I CAN NOT DO THAT but wish I could. So if you don't read everything I write. That is ok...my feelings are not hurt. Because I probably wouldn't either. :)

Micah and his sweet 2nd cousin, Jordan. Isn't she so adorable?

Micah in a baby pool on the beach...which was a life saver. Great idea Mama Lynn!

Parker just loved being in the water...beach or pool.

Still Sick

Random thoughts here for ya. First, I have not been in the mood to blog. Hence the reason I haven't. I really think it is a pregnancy thing. I am 13 weeks and 2 days preggo and I am STILL feeling nauseous! I feel soooooo much better then I did the first 10 1/2 weeks. This is tolerable. And it is not all day like it was before. But, I ate a super good meal(not super good for me) tonight, came straight home and laid in my bed because I have a headache accompanied with nausea. Gross. It is just so interesting how this baby is a girl and this pregnancy is so different then my other two(which were identical for the most part). I am not going to lie. I am ready for the nausea and headaches to go away. It is hard to function when they hit me. I, also have not been nearly has tired this go around. When I was pregnant with Micah I was exhausted all of the time. Probably due to climbing two sets of stairs every day, several times a day. Which I don't do now bc we live somewhere different. I have noticed lately, though, that if I go out in the morning for a couple of hours...I am completely pooped when I get home. I do take a nap every day when my boys nap. That has been something I have done during every pregnancy so far. Blessed that my boys still nap really good and that I can do that. I can feel her move. :) Which is such a great feeling. I feel her every day, but not all day. She is too small for that. If I lay down...usually at night I can feel her. I already have to sleep with two pillows on each side of me to sleep more comfortably. Never have I had to do that this early on. I have gained more weight more quickly. Due to not eating healthy at all. Planning on changing that after vacation...which starts on Sat. We are flying to the beach. So excited! We will be gone for a week. After that, I am hoping to eat better.
You know what is great though? My boys have been so great about going with the flow. We are not nearly as active and haven't been these last 13 weeks. And they don't care. They play so well together and at home. Derek thinks we have too many toys. And we probably do...but they play with all of them. And I am thankful for them. We still go to the pool a lot. And Parker is swimming like a fish all by himself. Parker is so great to snuggle with me when I don't feel good or am tired. Usually I only rest like that when Micah is napping. And if Parker is not napping yet...he will chill with me. I love it. He loves to get in my bed with me. Or he will watch a disney show. He is my buddy. So is Micah...he is just smaller and more active. Parker was too at that age. Maybe not as active. But...definitely wouldn't sit and snuggle. I hope all of my kids snuggle with me like Parker does.
I got my girl clothes fix for a little while. I showed you earlier what I bought Ann Marie. Now...I am calmer about it. My Mom bought her bedding and some smocked dresses. It is all absolutely adorable! I am sure I will go on another shopping trip next Dr. appt. Something about seeing her makes me excited! I, also am excited for her to come into this world. We are nowhere near her due date. And I don't want to wish away this time because then I am wishing away my boys time. There is so much to happen before she gets here. Vacation, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, Fall, Winter...etc. THATS a lot! So...I am going to be happy being pregnant...feeling her...preparing for her. But...not wish away this time. This will be the last 6 months I have with just boys. I want to cherish it. Ok...no pictures once again. I will try to post some after vacation.

We are having a baby and its a GIRL!

So...I haven't posted anything about this in SO long! Some of you might remember my post around Easter about being preggo with baby #3. Well, a week later I miscarried that baby. :( I was upset about it. It was not fun. It was my first and hopefully last miscarriage! The miscarriage is a whole different story. I will not go into that. But, God blessed us with another baby 2 weeks after I miscarried! Now, I am 12 weeks and 3 days pregnant! Most of you probably already know that. I haven't kept it hush hush...just wasn't ready to blog about it yet.
Again if you have been following my blog for a while(like 2 years) when I was pregnant with Micah I found out he was a boy at my 12 week appt. It was so crazy. It was a new Dr. because we had moved. I had to go in for a 45 min. ultrasound. I don't know anyone else whose Doctor's do this but mine does. I just happened to ask the lady if she could tell what the baby was and within min. she knew it was a boy! I couldn't believe it! Fast forward several months. I was waiting to see the doctor for a routine appt and was having a conversation with another pregnant lady who was waiting. She was really far along too. She found out she was having a girl at the 12 week appt. too! I thought, for sure, that I found out just because it was a boy and easier to see. I was wrong!
Now, this week was my 12 week appt. I was excited and praying that they could see what this baby was. My husband decided to come to his appt instead of the next one just in case I did find out. It was a different lady but I told her about Micah and she said she would check. Within minutes she said "Yup...I am 90% sure it is a girl." I was so happy I could have cried. I almost did! Then she checked her all out...and looked again 2 more times. By then, she said "ok, I am now 95% sure it is a girl." She even wrote down 2 websites that teach me how to make bows and sell bows. I really don't think she would have told me if she wasn't sure. She is an expert at this. This is all she does day in and day out. She also told me she has a really good track record. I am so excited. I have known for over 24 hours and already bought her bows, 2 blankets, 4 outfits, a sweater, and a pair of pants. AHHHH! My husband is shaking his head at me. But, she has hardly anything at all. I now have my Mom on a hunt in B'ham at all the amazing garage sales there for smocked dresses and adorable southern outfits. My whole family was so excited and so is my husband's fam. I laid all her outfits out and just stared at them in amazement that I am having a baby girl! Parker is excited. He has called it for weeks now. He always talks about his baby sister.
I can also feel her move. Which is so fun. It is funny because when we were getting the ultra sound she hardly moved. She was so chill. At Micah's 12 week appt I remember him flailing his arms every where and practically doing flips! I guess the difference between boys and girls. I go back on August 3rd for my Doctor to confirm it is a girl. I am ready for that appt. Just because I want the other 5% to be confirmed. ha ha. Although, I know it is a girl! I have had way too many signs.
Ok, this so long. But I haven't posted in forever. I am going to scan her ultra sound pictures in here soon. They are cute! By the way, her name is going to be
Ann Marie. We will call her Ann Marie. Ann is after Derek's nanny who we were very closed to. She passed away 2 years ago. And Marie is after my Mom. That is her middle name. Two great women! So, she will be a great woman of God! We will speak it over her every time we say her name.
These are pictures of stuff I bought her. Silly, I know. But I just love these outfits!

Princess Harley Jane is 1!!!

Don't you just love my title? Ha. I had to make it girly. Harley Jane is the one and only sweet girl in this family. She turned 1 on June 16th. Her party was so cute! It was an Austin Tea Party. Everything was so perfect and girly. Even though there was only 3 girls out of 12 boys it was every bit of a tea party. The boys loved it too. It was my boys first girl bday party(I think.). Here are some pictures from the event. And of the sweet birthday girl. She is beautiful...like I am not joking...and I am not being biased(maybe a little)...she REALLY is beautiful!

Some of the boys sitting at the table.

Gray and Parker. Best buddies!

Adorable Lawson.

The birthday girl being pretty and sweet.

Parker and Micah eating nectarines getting ready to leave for the tea party. I am on a nectarine kick. Might be the only healthy thing I am loving. :)

Fun Fun

I have some pictures for you!!! Aren't you excited? ha ha. Well...I just got my memory card in for my new camera yesterday. I was so excited! I played with my camera a lot yesterday and found some really neat things that my camera does.
Anyways, here are just a few pictures of the boys(1 of me).
Lately we go to the pool almost every day. I am going to try to take my camera to the pool so you all can see how awesome our pool is. My boys love going! We are really trying to teach Parker to swim. Last summer he was swimming by himself by the end of the summer. Not far or unsupervised...but he was doing it. He is now swimming by himself but we are trying to get him stronger at it. He is great at kicking his legs! That boy can tread water like nobodies business. But, he doesn't move his arms a lot. Anyways...we are working on it. Micah just loves it. He will roam around, play in the water, get a float, etc. He is so cute! People always look at him and talk about how cute he is. I agree!!! ha ha.


Parker dressed as a monkey. My sister gave us a lot of dress up clothes that her boys are too big for. Parker dresses up every day! For instance, at this very moment he has a carrot hat on with a superman cape. Earlier this morning he was a pumpkin with a batman mask on. So funny!

Ok not a fan of this picture of me. But the reason I posted it is because of this cool feature my camera has. I can put it on this mode that if it detects someone smiling it automatically takes a picture!! Ok, so maybe this isn't new to you, but it is me and I LOVE it! Especially since kids are all over the place with their smiles. This was the first time I tried this feature.

Cool picture of Park.

I LOVE this picture! This face is frequent from Micah Moo. I am SO happy I captured it. I see this face all of the time and it makes me laugh. It is a half whine/fuss kinda look. Hilarious!

Sweet boy. He is our roamer. Always roaming around the house.

I got a.....

NEW CAMERA!!! YAY!!!!! My birthday was three days ago but I just got my gifts last night. I asked for a nice camera. I actually asked for a different one then I got but I am SO happy with the one I got. I did not do much research at all and told my husband that when I showed him the one I wanted. So, I knew he would do some research. He did, and he bought me an awesome camera!!!! Actually, the camera wasn't from just him...it was from a lot of people. Anyways, I thought you all would like to know about it since I hopefully will be having some good pics coming your way. :) I have to wait on a memory card though. But once it is in...I will be getting some good pics and video(it has HD video on it too!). I also got six new dining room chairs that I love and a necklace that I have been wanting for a few months now. The necklace has 2 antique charms on it with my boys initials. The charms are tiny. It will be the only thing I have with my kids initials on it and I will probably wear it almost every day. :) I had a great birthday. My husband did a GREAT job! He has done so good this last year on making every holiday special. I am so appreciative!!
Coming soon...new pictures with my new camera!

What is Micah talking about these Days?

I have no pictures for you. :( I just need to upload the ones off my camera. Sorry...but I will do that soon enough.
I wanted to post on some of Micah's words he is saying these days. I want to do this because I purposefully went back to when Parker was Micah's age to see what he was saying at that age. So, I will probably do the same when I have another baby. Micah will be 16 months old on May 30th(2 days). Here is a list of things he says that we can understand.
-Mama
-DaDa
-Cracker
-Cook(one of his first words...weird...I know.)
-Uh Oh(another 1st word)
-Hot(this one is ALWAYS paired with "cook")
-Cookie
-Get down(we know he is saying this, but you probably wouldn't)
-Done
-Night Night
-Bye Bye
-Papa
-Cracker
-Bath
-Sucker(I think I heard him say this one day...but I could be wrong about this one)
-aljdkjhakgjhagjhlaghejklahiudhgjabgjlhaiukghkahfdk: Let me explain...this boy jibber jabbers ALL OF THE TIME! Parker did the same thing...and it is the funniest thing ever. I seriously haven't seen a child do this as much as my kids. I am sure they do, but it is the funniest thing. Today, on the way to the pool he would not stop "talking". He kept looking out the window and pointing. My friend, Paige, was with us and we were laughing so hard. He sounds like he speaks vietamese(sp?). This probably means he is going to be a talker like Parker. Which I thought for sure Micah would not be like that. I think I am going to be wrong. He probably says other stuff too. But, I could be forgetting it or don't know that is what he says.

Parker is funny as ever. We are going through a strict pottying routine right now. He has been potty trained for a over a year now. But, he still has accidents simply because A.)he doesn't want to take the time to go or B.)He doesn't tell me or his teachers(at church). We are on day 2 and it seems to be working a little bit every day. We haven't had any accidents. This boy knows better then to go in his pants...trust me...he is just being silly. But, he says funny stuff all of the time too. Like when he gets in trouble for whining and I tell him to hush he says "I wanna talk." He also talks about crushing Goliath(David and Goliath). He is really growing up on us! Him and Micah play so well together. I am so happy because they are to the point now that if we go to the park just with us and no friends/cousins they play with each other! Before when Micah wasn't old enough to play Parker would have gotten bored. But now...he plays with his brother! Yay!

My sweet boy is 3!!!!!

FINALLY! I have b-day party pics from my sweet little P's birthday. As I mentioned before he had a joint party with his cousin "G". He and P are only 5 weeks apart. P has already turned 3 and G will turn 3 at the end of this month. My sister and I had a great time planning this party and doing fun, cute things to make it memorable. We had it at a neat little place called Rolly Pollies. If you ever are wondering if it is a good idea to have a party there it is!!!!! They do a GREAT job of making your party special, easy, and fun for all the kids. There is a foam pit, climbing wall, zip line, bounce house, trampoline that you run on and then bounce on this big pad, bars, balance beam, and lots of other things that I don't even know the names for. There are 3 instructors there helping the kids do things...but not in their way at all. They provide balloons on each kids chair, the paper goods, and a place for gifts. It was so great! And I think everyone had a really good time...at least I hope so. P had so much fun. However, he didn't feel great(which happened last year on his bday party day...UGH!).
Since there is NO WAY I can take the time to write what each picture is. I do want to say that 1) we got the boys shirts made from a girl on Etsy. The same girl who made M's 1st bday shirt. She is so reasonable and good. Aren't they adorable?! 2)My sister made their cupcakes. How stinkin cute are those?! They looked amazing. My nephew said "My Mom should work for Hey Cupcake!" lol! They were so yummy too! 3)The theme of the invitations was a bright colored Lion with a bday hat on. Their gift bags had (matching to the invitations) writing pad, animal pen, animal crackers, animal stickers, and a blow pop. All the bags were tied with animal print ribbon.




















I have to comment on this picture. P LOVES this hat. It is WAY too small on him. It is like infant size. Lol! My Mom let us pick him out his first baseball hat and she bought it for him for his bday. It is his first Atlanta Braves hat. We went and picked it up yesterday and Derek brought P into the store. I think Derek was a proud daddy getting his son his FIRST baseball hat...and especially a Braves hat. So cute!

An evening on the Lake

We are apart of something called the Freedom Boat Club. It is this cool club where you can hop on a boat on different bodies of water throughout the US. It is really cool. We either hop on a boat on Lake Travis or Lake Austin. This night my whole family minus the kiddos went on Lake Austin. The water in Lake Austin is FREEZING! Which is great during the summer...but at the beginning of the summer before it is super hot...it is a bit cold to get in. We just relaxed and parked the boat at a really cool place called The Hula Hut to eat at. You will probably see lots more pictures of us on the boat this summer.

A very well known bridge in Austin. It is called the 360 Bridge(there is also another name for it that I am not sure of).

L-R Ashley(My sister), Wade(My brother), Kimberly(SIL), Me, My Mom(who got soaked and we were laughing so hard we were crying!)

Wade and Kimberly w/the bridge in the background(that you can barely see...oh well)